Spinal cord compression in widely metastatic Wilms' tumor. Paraplegia in two children with anaplastic Wilms' tumor

Abstract

Spinal cord compression in Wilms' tumor is a rare event, generally caused by invasion of the canal by paraspinal lesions or metastatically involved vertebral bodies. This case report reviews the clinical presentation, radiologic evaluation, and emergent therapy in two cases of spinal cord compromise involving patients with widely metastatic Wilms' tumor. One of these is the only known report of intradural metastasis in a child with this malignancy. Both cases illustrate the importance of anticipating and rapidly responding to neurologic complications that may arise in patients with aggressively metastatic Wilms' tumor.